The new Salvia cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor, Michael Uchneat in Bellefonte, Pa. The objective of the breeding program was to produce new Salvia splendens varieties with large, upright plant habits in a range of flower colors and with persistent calyx. The crossing resulting in this new variety was made during May of 2012.
The seed parent variety is an unpatented, proprietary, Salvia splendens referred to as ‘16666-1’. The pollen parent is the unpatented proprietary Salvia splendens variety referred to as ‘16651-3’. The new variety was identified as a potentially interesting selection in September 2012, at a greenhouse in Bellefonte, Pa.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘SGRPU03-0’ by vegetative cuttings was first performed during October of 2012, at a research greenhouse in Bellefonte, Pa. Subsequent propagation has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type on successive generations.